Taking the Weekend Off

Decided to take the Memorial Day weekend off. We'll have a new show for you next Sunday June 6th. Enjoy your time off with your family.

Joey

5-23-10 Gulf Of Mexico Oil n WWL-AM Spill Update Monologue

A little over a month ago we all awoke to find out that a horrible accident had happened on a rig many of us had no idea about 50 miles off the shore of Louisiana. We all were shocked at the loss of life, and wondered what was going to happen as the rig sank and the survivors of this tradegy made their way back home. The first thing that threw up red flags for me was that the company responsible was passing around liability waivers to the crew before they could get off the boat to be reunited with their families. Another red flag when they asked for volunteers to help with the cleanup, but once again, here come the fleet of lawyers and more attempts to curb the liability they were responsible for. Then as if on cue, the head of BP when asked if they were going to take financial responsibility by Senator Mary Landreiu, he without hesitation said "we will pay all legitimate claims". Who decides what is legitimate? Again, another measured, politically correct response. Now is not the time to be measured, or political, it is time to pull out all the stops, do anything, and everything available to cleanup what is out there now. Time to stop screwing around with all these half measures to attempt to recover the oil from the well and lame ideas to try to salvage BP's investment, and seal the well that is causing this.

I was going to move onto another topic for this week until I saw a report from Doug Mouton of WWL-TV in New Orleans. He was with Governor Bobby Jindal and  Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser as they toured the southern most part of the parish and found the first of the oil in the wetlands there. It turned my stomach to see an area where I fished as a kid so fouled and it made me angry that they had almost a month to prevent this but the powers in charge have sat on their ass and let it happen. 

Now, let me clarify where my disdain is aimed. First, I focus a majority of my fury at the decision makers of BP, Transocean, and Haliburton. You see, with just the small amount of information that has become available thus far, when it is all said and done, the ultimate blame for the destruction of the eco systems and lives of the people of the coastal states affected will fall to the lack of foresight by these companies. BP refused to use the safety devices that would have stopped this in the early hours of the accident which are readily available, like the acoustical switch used all over the world except here, a blow out preventer with the power needed to actually work as it is supposed to when there is a problem, and not having a fleet of skimmer ships, fire booms, and the amount of protective barrier needed to contain this in the first days instead of still stumbling to make one right move almost 5 weeks after the fact. The fact is of they would have spent a few million on safety up front, they wouldn't be spending tens of billions now.

I mentioned last week, and linked it to my sites that BP had stated in a report done years ago about their safety precautions at the start of this project that they could handle a spill in the gulf ten times what they reported was happening now in the Gulf of Mexico. That number has changed this week, mainly because now that people can actually see the volume of oil, gas, and fluid coming out of the damaged riser due to the live streaming video feed from the ROVs at the scene. Seems some incredibly smart scientist have figured out a way to calculate the volume of the items spewing from that pipe just by taking measurements from said video. With actual facts in front of them, BP had to come clean and say "it may be worse than we reported". Well, Duh.

Another report stated that BP admits that they have over 10 thousand submissions from people wanting to help with various ideas to help clean up the oil spill now. I saw an article that stated a design from actor Kevin Costner was "tested" by BP officials last week and may be in operation in a few weeks. Time for testing guy was 5 weeks ago. Screw testing! BP, get off your asses and take some action. 10 thousand submissions? Good, pay for every one of them that have a working prototype to get to the gulf NOW! Wild guess you will end up with a couple thousand teams with different options out there. BP, give them the money and crew they need to operate their inventions full scale for one week.Take the people that are actually making progress (picking up the oil) at the end of the week, give them the resources they need to continue operating and make more of the working devices, and keep doing that until ALL THE OIL is GONE! The time to sit behind lawyers, haggle, hope the feds take over so you can leave them with the check when this is over!

This is past the point of discussion. It disgusts me that the Corps of Engineers has sat on requests by coastal governments in the gulf to be allowed to protect their shores by being allow to dredge and create manmade barrier islands to stop the oil from getting inland. In some cases, these requests have been on the desks of these people for 3 to 4 weeks. No response. No suggestions. Nothing. \

Put yourself in the shoes of the people down there. You know what you can do to make sure this is headed off before it can destroy everything you know and love. You attempt to go through the proper channels to get the proper permissions to do it legally weeks before any damage is done to the coast. You are trying to protect your home, the environment that supplies your culture with beauty, food, and a livelihood. A few days after you make the request, you find out the oil is 30 miles from shore, you ask them to expedite the process so you can put the protection in place now. A week goes by, God is on your side the weather slows the toxic soup of oil, it is still twenty miles from shore, all your friends are willing to give you time, equipment, and most importantly support to get this done, so you beg the corps to say OK, and they come back with, we'll have to think about it. Another week goes by, your friend and neighbors are irate because the oil is creeping ever closer, but again, the people that have to give the go ahead at the corps say you have to wait for permission. I could keep going, but this has been going on for almost 5 weeks, and the oil has made it to the shore, it is in the marshes, the damage we could have stopped is done, and the corps is still thinking. 

I am not only a Louisiana native, but I am from a coastal parish. I was born in Terrebonne Parish, where Brunella is from, and grew up on the banks of Bayou Lafourche in Raceland, LA. I spent several summers as a kid living a trapper's existence in our camp on Lake Fields. We had crab traps, catfish boxes, and trout lines we fished every day during those summers. We lived on seafood. I learned to hunt and fish in those swamps, and always hoped to be able to one day take my boys down there to teach them like my dad taught me. Because of the inaction over the last few weeks, I may not have the chance. If my kids are lucky, they have a chance to teach their grandkids if the system can ever be recovered.  

One of the men I grew up watching on the local news in New Orleans did one hell of a great monologue about this situation on WWL Radio. His name is Garland Robinette. The video of this monologue is up at WWL.com and I invite you to go check it out. He gets into another aspect of the frustration and anger that is building from the lack of action from the people in charge, the federal government's lack of leadership to stop this before it got out of hand, and what he feels is the reason for the lack of a solution to this problem. His passion and fire in his monologue gave me the motivation to discuss this again for the third time in less than a month. I am only a small cog in the big machine, but this is what I can do to keep this story in the public domain.

I had a chance to have a discussion this week with the man I credit with being my inspiration to become a broadcaster, my 2nd cousin, and Louisiana radio legend, The Real Robert Mitchell. He does work on WWL Radio these days, and he has been on the ground down there since this all started. As Garland so poignantly  explained in his monologue, Bob told me of how frustrated the state and local government officials are that no one seems to be willing or able to take a lead here. He told me how citizens back home are so fed up they are threatening to comendere equipment and just get it done themselves, and they feel if they get arrested someone will quickly replace them. I understand the frustration, and I hope the people that need to fix this put that energy to work now. 

There is no "General Honere" for this disaster,  yet. I don't think we have time to wait for the oil spill version to show up either. As we discussed the situation, I likened this situation to going with a big group of friends to eat out, and everyone trying to find an excuse to leave the table when it is time for the check to arrive. BP is trying to cut corners where ever possible. The feds don't want to get caught with the bill if they intervene, and the state and local governments are too strapped to do it themselves. Someone needs to grow a pair, get the reigns of this runaway stagecoach, and save the day before the damage caused is irreversible. The point of no return if quickly approaching. 

The End Of An Era

Well, no matter how much I don't want to face it, tonight is the End of An Era in my life. Tonight, our oldest daughter is going to be performing her last choir concert as a high school student. She will most likely be performing again at graduation in a few weeks, but this is the last official concert she will still be a high school student. 

I am so proud of her. She is becoming an intelligent, well rounded, and most importantly independent young woman. She is the first of our 5 to get out of high school, and her little sister is going to quickly hit this same mark in two years. In a very short time I will go from having 5 children, to being the parent of two young women and three kids. 

I never believed my friends when they told me time would fly once I got married and had kids, but it has. I had my goals and benchmarks I wanted to hit by now, and they have all passed with me always telling myself I would get around to them. I don't regret my choices, but I do know that I did the best I could with what I was allowed to have. 

I look forward to watching her get her diploma in three weeks, but more importantly I await the road ahead. Like every parent I hope she is spared the mistakes I made in my life, but I will do what I can to make sure she has what she needs to make her own choices. Make sure you take the time to enjoy your kids. Before you know it, they are all grown up and you are both too busy.  

Too many little topics going on this week to just cover 1, so we'll talk about them all. 3PM PDT /6PM EDT http://blogtalkradio.com/radiojs

The Truth in Real Time

I have been debating all day about if I should say something or not, and this means that I won the debate I think. Before I get into this, I am still taking suggestions for a topic for this week. I am not liking what I am seeing from Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, but I think that will be a few minutes of the Monologue instead of the whole show. 

Also, I am working with a couple of good friends that are experts in health and nutrition to fufill a request to do a show on food allergies/Food Additives/Healthy Living and we will announce the date for that show soon. Since I am not an expert on this topic, I am making sure I can bring on one or two that I trust. 

Now, I was laying down watching TV last night when I scanned past Real Time with Bill Maher. Ten years ago, maybe a little longer I used to think Politically Incorrect was a funny show. I have had old bosses, friends, and even a couple of people I work with actually be on the panel of his old show. I don't think any of them would be invited onto this version of the show, because none of them would be able to keep their mouth shut while Mr. Maher talks about how stupid tea baggers are, or possibly how America should be off the "oil tit" as he calls it. 

My bone, and for some reason I can't seem to move from this topic of immigration reform, is his monologue he did towards the end of his broadcast this past week. Mr. Maher in this ripoff of a cross between the two lowest rated presenters on MSNBC (Rachel Madcow, and Kieth Oberdone), he takes the position that Americans shouldn't be pissed off at the "poor servants" here trying to live the American Dream. We should be happy they are here to do the work none of us have the time or the will to do. We shouldn't fault them for wanting to be here.

Well, Bill, we're not! We're upset about the subculture that has been created by people coming here illegally, living in the USA undocumented, getting paid cash under the table because they don't pay taxes, using up medical and other benefits of the states without contributing to the funding of then, being exploited by employers that pay them half what they would have to pay if they were legit, that do the jobs Americans would be happy to do if the scumbag afore mentioned would pay them as he is supposed to per government regulation. I personally have nothing against people wanting to come here, but as I have said before, they need to follow the process and do it legally. I know the mindless drones clapped at your comments, and think that using stupid slang like tea baggers is cool, but let me let you in on a little secret. The majority of us out here in the real world think you are an annoying, smart ass, and most of the time ill informed clown. You used the same information about property crime that had been completely dismissed by a man who knows, Sheriff Joe from Phoenix on MSNBC almost a week before you used it. Oh, he's the guy that is the boss of the guys that make the arrests and writes the reports your information was based on. Oh, wait, you and the idiots at MSNBC used "state wide" information, because if you take just the border where the problem is. . . Yeah, we caught that one too! 

And Bill, let me clear something up for you.  Kumar got a White House gig because he's young, he's hip, and people like him. Sorry, but you strike out on all three. Maybe Obama can give you, Madcow, and Oberdone an honorary position in the white house press office. It's like you all work from there already. If you didn't see it, he mentioned he could accept a cabinet position because he has only hired legal hispanic housekeepers. So funny I almost fell asleep. 

I don't like to get like this, but Maher has been on my last nerve for some time. He has a right to speak his mind, but then again, so do I.

Amazing what a little research can get you.

I was forwarded an e-mail by a friend that spoke about immigration reform and I thought it was a decent e-mail that touched on several of the same points I discussed on my show this past Sunday. But, like with most of the stuff I do, I did a quick internet search for the author of this letter, and found a controversy that has been circulating worldwide since 2006 on this issue. 

The e-mail states that Rosemary LaBonte sent a letter to the editor of the Orange County Register which they refused to publish, so her husband sent it out and essentially started an immigration reform chain e-mail. The fun part of this is that when you do some searching, you can find people dissecting this letter almost word by word in order to paint this lady as a racist, someone who has no clue, and of course as ignorant because she actually made good points.

The e-mail I got was slightly edited from the original, which had date references to 2006. Any good chain e-mail has to seem fresh, so the dates had to go. So instead of publishing the e-mail itself, which is legit, I will instead give you some links to the relevant information. The only point I want to make here is that the current tactic used when someone disagree with the left's agenda is not new, it has been used and refined over the years. More proof that if they are take the time to belittle something, call the people involved racist, ignorant, or hate mongers, and make fun of them, they don't know how to debate on the facts and are scared of it. 

This kind of tactic has worked before, and until they are shown a majority of us see right past the thinly veiled smoke screen, they will continue to try it. 

Here are the links for you to see what I am talking about.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/newimmigrants.asp

http://radioactv915.wordpress.com/2006/07/23/rosemary-labontes-letter-to-the-editor-makes-the-rounds/

http://lighthousepatriotjournal.wordpress.com/2006/09/10/myth-blaster-letter-to-the-orange-country-register/

http://trailerparkjokes.com/blog/politics/rosemary-labonte-stand-on-imigration/

http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2008/05/27/the-gullible-mr-graves/

I was forwarded a moving letter about immigration reform. Give me a few to check it to make sure it's legit, then I'll post it.

Rainy Days and Mondays. . . .

I remember as a kid my mom had that Carpenter's album on 8 track (I know, showing my age. For you youngsters, an 8 track is what your grand parents used to play music in their car before CD's.) in her collection. She always seemed to pull it out and play it when it started raining on Mondays. I guess she is the reason I have a knack for finding just the right song for the situation. 

I heard earlier that Lena Horn passed away at 92. One of the good parts of working here, the news is fresh every hour! I remember her on The Cosby Show back in the mid 80's. I know some of her music, but I remember more of her from what others have said, and the little bit of TV she has done.

I am not going to comment just yet, because I have not been able to research her yet, but I have heard what some of the big guns have contributed about Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. I will research on my own, then either I will talk about her nomination later this week, or maybe during my monologue this Sunday. It all depends on how frustrated I get at how bad this choice really is once I am educated on it. 

Got a couple of hours of work left tonight. I took a late lunch because I have to play hall monitor while the hall monitors go to lunch. Have a great evening, and stay dry.

Last Night's Show

Want to thank everyone for making the extra effort to participate in the
show last night. I found out after the show that the first 22 minutes or so
sounded warped do to bandwidth issues and a bad Skype connection. I feel
this is due to my ISP, so I am now in the process of moving to another one
to get added stability. I will also be taking steps to test my connection
before the show to make sure this doesn't happen again.

With all that said, it was a fun show to do. It was nice to have some
interaction during the show via e-mail, the BTR chat room, and my friends
via IMs. It helps me stay on track when I have instant feedback from the
listeners.

What would you like for me to talk about on next week's show? What is the
topic that keeps coming up when you and your friends talk? Send me an
e-mail, leave a comment, or drop by my website http://www.thelwk.com and
tell me your ideas.

Joey

TONIGHT's SHOW RESCHEDULED

I have rescheduled my show for 8PM PDT tonight. My ISP crashed about 10 minutes to air tonight and I have been promised this issue has been resolved. Please join me tonight at 8PM PDT at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs for our show on immigration. You can be a part of the show by e-mailing me your thoughts before the show to joey@thelwk.com or calling into the show at (646) 595-3426 tonight.

 

Joey

Quick Note From Joey

Sorry all, unforeseen circumstances has forced me not to be able to broadcast tonight. We may reschedule for later tonight if possible. -Joey

Show #8 - IMMIGRATION MONOLOGUE

Joey Sanders Show – 3PM PDT/6PM EDT – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs

 

This has been a very busy week for me. Our youngest daughter, Evangelia, Lia as she is known, celebrated her first communion at our church yesterday. It was a nice service and we had 32 kids in this year’s class. About 10 minutes into the mass, Gabe started acting up, so I had to take him out of the church. Our pastor expects us to lead by example since we are catechist, so since he specifically asked parents with disruptive children to go into the vestibule, I felt I needed to take Gabe outside. We walked around the outside of church until the end of the mass. He’s 2 years old, so sitting down and behaving during a church service, even if it is a celebration for his big sister just wasn’t going to happen. We all got to enjoy a small reception  in the church hall, and I got to see Lia receive her first communion thanks to Nell recording the moment on her cell phone.

 

Marayna has been working all week with either the performances of practices for her high school’s production of “South Pacific”. I haven’t been able to see the show yet, but hope to do so soon. She and the entire cast and crew have worked tirelessly to make this musical a great performance.

 

Logan and I had the opportunity to watch the first blockbuster movie of the summer season Friday Night, and Marayna got to watch it a little later in the evening with her friends after their performance. I enjoyed the movie, and the kids tell me they did too. Just a touch of blue humor, very fast pace movie for the most part, and what I expected for the caliber of talent involved with the acting, directing, and producing of this comic book brought to live action.

 

I talked a little earlier this week on the HBO Movie “You Don’t Know Jack” which started playing this week. It was a well done movie. I always like Al Pachino, even in this role. He does a good job of making Kevorkian someone you can root for. I know it’s based on true events, but again, no matter how much they show the suffering of others and make him out to be a sympathetic hero of the dying, it didn’t make me change my view on the “right to die” as they refer to it in the movie. You can read more on this on my blog from earlier this week on this topic.  

 

I guess I am a little weird when I watch a movie, because I leave reality at the door. A movie has never changed the way I think about life. It has never changed my political outlook. I don’t allow it to consume my life. I take it for what I would hope everyone does, a small, entertaining, momentary escape. Actors, directors, and producers may attempt to promote their agenda, or their political viewpoints on the screen, but I am unwilling to allow them the chance to change my thought process or the way I do things because they showed how rough life is on the big screen. Movies are meant to entertain, not enlighten. It doesn’t upset when this happens, and it does more than you would like to think, but instead it disappoints me that these people are so caught up in the fantasy that they start to believe their own hype.  If you want to be a politician, and change the world, take the pay cut and seek office like Gopher, The Terminator, and other actors that have paved the way for you to affect the real change you seek. Using your stardom to “speak on a topic” usually gets you in trouble, or laughed at by people that really know about the topics you claim to be passionate about.

 

After asking you what you wanted me to cover this week, the majority of you wanted me to cover the fallout from the Arizona Immigration Law that was recently passed.  I’ve got several different parts of this I will touch on tonight. First, we’ll talk about how the local basketball franchise in Phoenix decided to show they support people breaking the law during their playoff appearance this week. We’ll also talk about the protests that have popped up all over the country in the weeks since the law was passed. We’ll talk about the cinco de mayo incident in Texas. Finally, we will talk about the newest effort to get immigration reform passed through congress. If you don’t know, a revised proposal is being floated around the hallways in Washington, and thanks to some great work by ABC News, I have a copy of that proposal which we will review. You can look it over by clicking on the link to it on my facebook page. Of course, I want to hear from you. Did Arizona take things too far as the resident and others have repeatedly said? Is it wrong for Arizona voters to want the federal laws on the books to be enforced for once? Is the answer to make everyone that is currently in this country illegally citizens, or would that just open the floodgates and make the problem worse? Call me and tell me your thoughts tonight at six four six, five nine five, thirty-four, twenty-six. If you are listening on demand, drop me an e-mail at joey@thelwk.com anytime. I love to get your point of view.

 

I’ve talked about my feelings on immigration again, but let me go over this one more time for the cheap seats. I strongly believe any immigration reform that allows the people already here illegally to pay a fine, go through a process, or eventually become a legal citizen without some type of stiff penalty is a bad idea. I think it will set a precedent that will give other people wanting to immigrate to the USA motivation to get here however they can, because if we make this exception once, if they bring 3 or 4 times more people into the country illegally, we’ll have to do it again, right? It has always been my belief that if you want to immigrate to the USA you need to do it legally. Follow the process, wait your turn, and then you, like the rest of us become a law abiding citizen.

 

Another thing that has always gotten to me, you need to learn to speak, read, and write English if you are going to be a part of this republic. We waste millions of dollars a year having things not only in Spanish, but the 15 to 20 other languages they publish information in on the federal, state, and local level. Think of the money saved if instead of doubling up courses and events in multiple languages, if instead taught them to speak English, and then they became part of the larger group. I know this is not the politically correct thing to say, but in my mind, it is what should be said.

 

Being a Cajun, I know about wanting to protect and preserve your heritage and history. Back home, we all love our music, our food, and our Cajun culture. However, our grandparents had to learn English, since most of the only spoke Cajun French when they began school. They had to become part of the American society, and the people wanting to come here to live the American Dream need to become American, not just be here for work.

 

When we come back from the break we’ll start with the fallout nationally since Arizona passed this law a few weeks ago. Later this hour we’ll move to the Cinco de Mayo incident with the students in Texas, and finally we’ll review the new immigration reform proposal being floated through congress. Join in tonight, the number for you to call to be part of the show is six four six, five nine five, thirty-four twenty-six. The Joey Sanders Show continues on Blog Talk Radio.

 

 

Just another week in my life.

We have had a busy week, with Brunella starting her new job, Lia's first communion today, and Marayna is performing in her school's production of "South Pacific".  Work is always hectic. Seem to never have enough time for the kids, but Logan and I had a "guys night out" Friday Night watching Ironman 2. Logan and I both enjoyed it, and I do not understand the critics saying their are too many story lines in this picture. Either they are slow or I am, but I usually like the stuff the critics hate anyway.

 

This week I have also seemed to been sought out by book authors. I mentioned one last week in my show's monologue, in passing, amazingly she found my show on Blog Talk Radio, and has sent me a copy of her book for my review. An old co-worker of mine has a relative that has a new book, and I am looking forward to getting his book. I also have an old classmate that has been recently published, and I am in the process of reading his book right now. I plan to invite them all on the air once I have a chance to review their work, and can ask coherient questions about their work.

 

I invite any authors or "experts" that want to come on the show to let me know. I would welcome them, and will do my best to keep up with what you are talking about. I am human, so as long as you promise to be kind if I don't get it, we will be just fine.

 

I will be putting the monologue for tomorrow's show about Immigration together after I eat dinner tonight. I want to get everything prepped before tomorrow, so I am just tweaking things in the hours before the show. I hate feeling rushed, and getting it written tonight, allows me to pick it apart a few times before the show.

 

As always, please forward me your comments, questions, suggestions, or complaints to joey@thelwk.com anytime. Please join me tomorrow afternoon 3PM PDT/6PM EDT for The Joey Sanders Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs and of course if you miss the live show, you can catch it on demand anytime starting an hour after the show.

Show #8 monologue will be added shortly, tune in Sun. Night 3p PDT http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs